Samford University
Chicago State
Bulldogs' Road Woes Continue In 66-49 Loss At Chicago State
12.20.08 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2008
CHICAGO - The Samford University basketball team dropped its fifth-straight road game of the 2008-09 season Saturday as the Bulldogs were defeated by the Chicago State Cougars 66-49 in a non-conference matchup held at the newly-built Jones Convocation Center.
In the loss, Samford (4-5) continued its poor shooting on the road and finished the game with a 31.5-percent outing from the field and a 32.4 mark from 3-point range. The Bulldogs' Trey Montgomery led the team in scoring with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. All four of his baskets came from beyond the arc.
With the win, Chicago State (5-6) remained undefeated at home and improved to 4-0 when playing at the sterling Jones Convocation Center.
The Cougars finished the victory with two players scoring in double figures and were led by David Holston's 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field. Chicago State's 5-foot-8 guard from Pontiac, Mich., was also 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Fellow senior guard John Cantrell added 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Chicago State shot 47.4 percent from the field, but only connected on 25 percent of its shots from 3-point range. The Cougars out-rebounded the Bulldogs 45-28 and tallied nine blocked shots.
Midway through the second half, Samford fought back to trim Chicago State's lead to three points with eight minutes to play. Sparking the Bulldogs' comeback was junior forward Bryan Friday and freshman guard Jeffrey Merritt.
Friday finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists while Merritt came off the bench to knock down back-to-back 3-pointers. Samford's 6-foot-6 native of Oklahoma City, Okla., tallied a career-high eight points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field.
The Bulldogs' Jim Griffin, a native of Chicago, played in front of a number of his hometown friends and family Saturday and finished the game with four points, three rebounds and three assists.
Samford will now take a break from action for the Christmas Holidays and is scheduled to play its next game on Dec. 30 with another road game at McNeese State.
At halftime, Chicago State held a 31-22 advantage. The Cougars jumped out to an early 12-3 lead in the game and connected on 46.4 percent of their shots in the opening period. Samford struggled from the field in the first half and finished the stanza with a 36.4 shooting percentage.
Five of the Bulldogs' eight field goals in the first period came from behind the arc. Samford shot 38.5 percent from 3-point range and was 5-for-13 from downtown.
Montgomery was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 guard from Destrehan, La., led the team with nine points in the opening period.
Chicago State's Cantrell scored nine first-half points to lead the Cougars. He was 4-for-8 from the field and added three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Chicago State's Holston, the second-leading scorer in the nation, added eight points in the first half of play, but was limited to a 3-for-7 outing from the field.
Holston entered the game averaging 27.1 points per contest.
Samford struggled on the boards in the first half of play and trailed Chicago State in the rebounding battle 22-9. The Cougars scored seven second-chance points in the first half.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Dec. 30 at 7 p.m., as the Bulldogs remain on the road for a non-conference game against the McNeese State Cowboys in Lake Charles, La. The matchup will be held at McNeese State's Burton Coliseum (8,000).
